SAN FRANCISCO — More than 20,000 young prophets of Jesus rose up Saturday and screamed at the top of their lungs, “We worship you, Lord!”

Among them stood a 17-year-old boy with a pink mohawk clad in black. Nearby sat a girl with blond hair wearing jeans, a baby-blue fitted T-shirt and black high-tops.

Despite their differing appearances, they were unified in their faith.

“We’re surrounded by thousands of kids who are morally righteous,” said 16-year-old Ari Adams of Half Moon Bay, adding that she usually finds being Christian a solitary experience. “This is about rising up and taking a stand.”

The two-day event is a rally to redefine who they are as a generation and amp up their Christian values through speakers and Christian rock music. That means rejecting an immoral culture that glamorizes celebrity and the rock ‘n’ roll lifestyle, organizers say.

“It is total bombardment,” said Craig Forbes, an interim youth pastor at Mariner’s Community Church in Half Moon Bay. “It’s every minute of every day for kids. God created us to be in a relationship with him. We don’t have to find our value in a bunch of marketing hype and false relationships.”

In San Francisco, BattleCry has evoked protests among a number of progressive groups who accuse Teen Mania of enlisting faith-fueled teens to embrace anti-abortion-rights and anti-gay messages. Such was the case Friday in front of City Hall, where the organization’s founder, Ron Luce, and reportedly thousands of teens gathered to pray.

Meanwhile, the city recently voted to prevent the use of amplifiers before 10 a.m. this weekend after a mega-youth event last year caused noise complaints.

BattleCry began at 8 a.m. Saturday, so to hear Luce, other speakers and Christian rock band Unhindered, teens tuned into a radio station broadcasting from within the ballpark.

The city’s treatment of the event gave Luce a reason to call the gathering a “persecuted church,” and he started an evangelical rebellion by pleading for a call-and-response.

“It doesn’t matter what they’ll do, they’re still going to hear …”

“My voice!” they howled.

“I’ve got passion in …”

“My voice!”

“In the community, they’re going to hear …”

“MY VOICE!”

Since Teen Mania’s creation in 1986, the organization says it has reached more than 2 million teens.

They have heeded Luce’s message of “embracing the coolness of Christ” through Teen Mania’s “extreme camps,” global expeditions and Acquire the Fire stadium mini-events.

Charlotte Rose Hamilton, a BattleCry teen organizer, said youths need to be aggressive in rejecting pop culture. She said she was kicked out of her house more than a year ago because of drug use and promiscuous sex.

Hamilton said her life changed when she went to the gathering last year in San Francisco.

“When my mother was younger, they waged a war on drugs,” said the 18-year-old resident of Garden Valley, Texas, where Teen Mania was formed. “So we want to demolish the message and the lies youths are being fed, that drugs is cool and sex is OK. It’s destroying our culture in return. If we don’t get rid of it, it will get rid of us.”

Joe Diaz-Romero of Moss Beach said he feels more empowered to spread the word of God. This is his second BattleCry. “Now, we’re going into the next level, from students to being a stalker for God,” the 17-year-old said. “I have to advertise it. (God) is the solution whether people want to believe it or not. Christ loves you and he’s always there waiting to wrap you in his arms.”

Not only was racial animus a likely factor when Charter Communications repeatedly rejected negotiations with Entertainment Studios, the TV programmer, but Charter's attempt to shield itself from allegations of bias using the First Amendment is also without merit, according to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit.